Hinge having pintle retaining means



Dec. 19, 1961 c. FERRY HINGE HAVING PINTLE RETAINING MEANS Filed Jan. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1N VENTOR.

CHAMBERLA/N FERRY TO R NE Y5 Dec. 19, 1961 c, FERRY 3,013,297

HINGE HAVING PINTLE RETAINING MEANS Filed Jan. 6, 1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I j iMfi @W i;

FIG. 7

. INVENTOR. CHA MBERLA /N FERRY 1 ATTQRNE Ygs nite.

3,013,297 Patented Dec. 19, 1961 3,013,297 HINGE HAVENG PINTLE RETAINING MEANS Chamberlain Ferry, Kensington, Conn., assignor to The Stanley Works, New Britain, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Filed Jan. 6, 1958, Ser. No. 707,426 4 illaims. (Cl. 16-169) This invention relates generally to hinges and more particularly to a hinge having novel and improved pintle retaining means. An object of this invention is to provide a hinge having novel and improved means for yieldably retaining the hinge pintle in seated position in the hinge knuckle bores which is effective to prevent rising of the pintle under conditions of normal usage of the hinge while permitting the pintle to turn and to be readily removed for disassembly of the hinge when necessary.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a hinge having pintle retaining means of the type described which permits a greater range of manufacturing tolerances in the manufacture of the hinge, which is simple and more economical to fabricate and assemble and yet which is sufficiently rugged to provide an extended service life, including repeated assemblies and disassemblies of the hinge, without malfunction or failure.

Other objects will be in part obvious and in part pointed out more in detail hereinafter.

The invention accordingly consists in the features of construction, combination of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereafter set forth, and the scope of the application of which will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an exploded elevational view, partly in section, of a hinge of a type with which this invention is concerned;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal crosssectional view of thebottom knuckle portion of the hinge of FIG. 1 with the hinge assembled and showing the improved pintle retaining means;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view substan tially along the line 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of the bottom knuckle portion of a hinge similar to FIG. 2 and illustrating an alternative structure for mounting the pintle retaining means;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view substan tially along the line 55 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view of the bottom knuckle portion of the hinge similar to FIG. 2 and illustrating another means for mounting the pintle retaining means; and

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view substantially along the line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

With reference to the drawin s and particularly FIG. 1 thereof, a hinge of a type with which this invention is concerned comprises a pair of hinge leaves It 12, each having a plurality of knuckles 14-. The knuckles of the leaves are engageable in interfitting relation and are provided with alignabl'e bores 16 in which is receivable a pintle 18. The pintle has at its upper end an enlarged head Zliengageaible with the top knuckle of the leaf i2 to'limit movement of the pintle into tthe knuckle bores. The pintle has a tapered lower end 22 and is provided with an external annular groove 24 with tapered side walls closely adjacent its tapered end. The bottom knuckle of the leaf 12 is provided with a counterbore 26 extending upwardly from its bottom end in which is received a tip 28 having an enlarged head 29 generally corresponding in shape to the head 20 of the pintle.

With particular reference to FIGS. 2 and 3, the tip 28 is provided with a coaxial bore 34 having an enlarged portion or counterbore 32 adjacent its upper end for receiving the lower end of the pintle in radially and axially spaced relation. An internal groove or pocket'36 is formed in the upper end of the tip by peening over the thin edge section 37. The pintle is yieldably retained in the seated position of FIG. 2 by a relatively thin wire spring 34 of generally triangular configuration carried in the internal annular pocket 36 provided at the upper end of the tip 28. The spring 34 whch is, in accordance with the invention, triangular in shape has its two ends 34a and two apices or corners 34b engaged with the radially outermost wall of the pocket 36 so that the legs 38, 39 and 40 extend chordally within the knuckle bore for engagement in the pintle groove 24. The spring is preferably split as shown and dimensioned so that when the spring is in unflexed condition the outside dimensions of the spring are greater than the inner diameter of the pocket 36, requiring that the spring be compressed in order to be engaged in the pocket. The corners and the ends of the spring, thus, firmly engage the radially outermost wall of the pocket 36 so that the spring is firmly held within the pocket whether the pintle is seated therein or not. A

The dimensions of the spring 34 also are such that when the spring is received in the pocket 36, the diameter of a circle circumscribed by the legs 33, 39 and 49 of the spring is less than the maximum diameter of the tapered end 22 of the pintle and preferably less than the diameter of the pintle groove 24 so that when the pintle is in-fully seated position the legs of the spring.

will firmly engage the pintle at three points spaced around the bottom of the groove 24 and any inadvertent rising of the pintle is prevented. When it is desired to disassemble the pintle and hinge leaves, a nail or the like is inserted in the bore 30 of the tip 28 and driven upwardly to drive the pintle out of the spring.

The use of a polygonal spring such as the triangular spring 34 is a novel feature of the invention affording many advantages from the standpoint of improved operation and convenience and economy of manufacture. As will be apparent from a consideration of FIGS. 2 and 3, the spring 34 is retained in position by the engagement of the ends 34a and apiccs 34b in the pocket 36 while securing of the pintle is accomplished by the engagement of the midpoints of the legs 38, 39 and 40 in the groove 24. Thus the effectiveness of the spring is substantially independent of the thickness of the spring wire permitting the use of thinner wire and obviating the need for fabrication to close tolerances. The release and engagement of the pintle during assembly and disassembly of the hinge is accomplished by the radial flexing or bending of the individual leg portions 38, '39 and 40 on the tapering side wall of the pintle groove rather than by a spreading or expansion of the entire spring such as occurs when using circular split rings normally employed for this purpose. Consequently, the spring has greater rigidity and holding power even though made of thinner stock. Furthermore, since the polygonal spring does not require clearance at the apices for spreading or expansion puropses it is possible to install the spring in firm engagement with the retaining pocket 36, preferably by prestressing it, thus eliminating the need for close tolerances and assuring that the spring will not fall out of place during assembly and disassembly of the hinge. i

In the hinge structure shown in is mounted in an annular retainer which itself may be loosely received within the counterbore 126 of the bottom knuckle 114 of the hinge leaf 112 between the upper end of the counterbore and the spaced upper end FIGS. 4 and s, the spring 134-, which is similar to spring 34 described above,

of tip 128. The retainer 135 is generally L-shaped in cross-section and thus forms an annular pocket 136 disposed coaxially of the bottom knuckle bore and registering with the external annular groove 124 at the bottom of the pintle. The split triangular wire spring 134 is engaged in the retainer preferably under compression so that the ends and corners of the springs are firmly engaged with the outer wall of the retainer. The legs 138, 139 and 140 of the spring extend chordally of the knuckle bore and are engaged in the pintle groove 124 with the legs bowed radially outwardly to yieldably retain the pintle seated in the knuckles. The seating of the spring in the retainer under compression serves to hold these members in assembled position and permits insertion of the retainer and spring into the knuckle as a unit thus facilitating assembly of the hinge.

In the hinge of FIGS. 6 and 7, a split triangular Wire spring 234 similar to springs 34 and 134 is inserted directly into the counterbore 226 of the bottom knuckle 214 of the hinge leaf 212. A washer 244 is first inserted into the counterbore to bottom on the tapered portion 227 which is formed in the counterboring operation to provide a radially inwardly directed shoulder. The washer 244, is cooperation with the upper end of the tip 228 closing the counterbore, forms an annular pocket 236 disposed coaxially of the knuckle and registering with the external annular groove 224 on the pintle 218 which extends through the washer and spring. The spring 234, like the springs 34 and 134, is preferably engaged in its pocket in a compressed condition so that the corners and ends thereof firmly engage the wall of the counterbore whether the pintle is seated in the spring or not. The legs 238, 239 and 240 of the spring extend chordally of the knuckle bore and are engaged in the pintle groove 224 with the legs bowed outwardly to retain the pintle seated in the knuckles.

While the means for mounting the springs 134 and 234 difier from the means for mounting the spring 34, it will be apparent that the various advantages derived from the use of the triangular spring, as described in connection with the spring 34, will also be afforded in these embodiments It should be realized that the alternative embodiments shown for mounting of the triangular wire spring within the bottom knuckle of the hinge are shown only by way of example of the various means in which the triangular spring may be mounted so as to provide the advantages in performance and manufacturing ease and economy attributable to the use of this spring. In all of these various embodiments there is provided a spring retainer means having superior holding power and a greater service life while at the same time the hinge is more economical and more convenient to fabricate and assemble.

While the invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments thereof, it is contemplated that variations and modifications thereof will be apparent to one skilled in the art and all such variations and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. In a hinge including a pair of hinge leaves having a plurality of interfitting knuckles with aligned bores, and a pintle received in the bores and having an external annular groove with tapered side walls located between the ends thereof and a tapered end portion, means forming an internal annular pocket disposed coaxially of one of the knuckles and registering with the pintle groove, and a polygonal wire spring split at one of its apices received in the pocket with the apices of the spring being engaged with the radially outermost wall of the pocket and with the leg portions of the spring extending from the apices thereof being spaced radially inwardly from the radially outermost wall of the pocket and extending chordally of the knuckle bore, the pintle extending through the spring with the leg portions of the spring being resiliently engaged in the pintle groove and yieldable retaining the pintle in seated position in the knuckle bores.

2. In a hinge including a pair of hinge leaves having a plurality of interfitting knuckles with aligned bores, and a pintle received in the bores and having a tapered lower end and an external annular groove with tapered side walls adjacent the lower end thereof, means forming an annular pocket internally of the lowermost knuckle coaxially aligned with the knuckle bore and registering with the pintle groove, and a triangular wire spring split at one of its apices received within said pocket with the ends and apices of the spring being engaged with the radially outermost wall of said pocket, the pintle extending through the spring with the leg portions extending from the apices of the spring being engaged in the pintle groove and being bowed radially outwardly of the pocket by reason of the engagement of the spring in the pintle groove to yieldably retain the pintle in seated p0 sition in the knuckle bores.

3. In a hinge including a pair of hinge leaves having interfitting knuckles with aligned bores, and a pintle received in said bores and having a tapered lower end and an annular groove with tapered side walls adjacent its lower end received within the bottom knuckle of the hinge, a tip received in the bottom knuckle bore and receiving the lower end of the pintle, the tip being provided with an internal annular pocket at its upper end opening into the knuckle bore, and a polygonal wire spring split at one of its apices received in said annular pocket with the apices and ends of the spring engaged with the radially outermost wall of said pocket, the leg portions of the spring extending from the apices thereof being positioned chordally within the bottom knuckle bore and being engaged in the pintle groove in radially outwardly flexed condition to yieldably retain the pintle in seated position in the knuckles.

4. In a hinge including a pair of hinge leaves having interfitting knuckles with aligned bores, and a pintle received in said bores and having a tapered lower end and an external annular groove with tapered side walls adjacent its lower end, the bottom knuckle of the hinge being provided with a counterbore extending upwardly from the bottom thereof, an annular spring retainer loosely received in said counterbore, a polygonal wire spring split at one of its apices engaged within said retainer in a compressed condition with the corners and ends of the spring engaging the outer wall of the retainer, the leg portions of the spring extending from the apices thereof being directed chordally of the bottom knuckle bore and being engaged in said annular groove in the pintle in radially outwardly flexed condition, and a tip received in said counterbore in the bottom knuckle and retaining the spring retainer therein.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 636,330 Glover Nov. 7, 1899 765,152 Stark July 12, 1904 1,426,721 Erik Aug. 22, 1922 1,741,093 Briggs Dec. 24, 1929 2,786,229 Carroll Mar. 26, 1957 2,817,871 Ferry Dec. 31, 1957 

